1979 - Nordisk Insulinlaboratorium gets a new structure

Throughout the 1970s, some members of the Board of Nordisk Insulinlaboratorium want the research at Steno Memorial Hospital (Niels Steensens Hospital) to focus on new products that can be marketed and sold for the benefit of Nordisk Insulinlaboratorium, which owns the hospital. The Hospital’s physicians and researchers oppose this, since they fear that this will jeopardize free and independent research and the Hospital’s reputation. The proposal is not implemented, but the longstanding dispute ends when Nordisk Insulinlaboratorium restructures the organization, placing three units under its control: 1) the commercial part consisting of production and sales under the name Nordisk Gentofte; 2) the Steno Memorial Hospital Research Laboratory, which is renamed the Hagedorn Research Laboratory and becomes an independent unit emphasizing research and development for the benefit of Nordisk Insulinlaboratorium; and 3) Steno Memorial Hospital, which continues to focus on treating patients, independent research and education.